This week in the Arab media, former Jordanian information minister Salah Al-Qallab wrote an article in which he called for the “peaceful coexistence between the majority Muslim population and Christian communities in the Middle East.” He describes the issue as one of “upmost gravity.”

He adds, “that [in Egypt], there is a group afflicted with the madness of blind extremism and factionalism [directed against] different ethnic communities. [This group] is determined to do away with tolerance, which has distinguished this country throughout its long history, and to fan the flames of civil war [fitna] between [people] who share the same homeland, history, and culture, i.e. between Muslims and Christians.”

All well and good, until one continues to read that he then ventures into an absurd political and propaganda attack against, yes no surprise here, against Israel. As is so often the case, there is no mention of peaceful coexistence with Jews.

The Israelis are harassing Christians in Palestine in all kinds of devilish ways. Only recently, on week days and holidays alike, Jerusalem used to reverberate with the ringing of the bells of its ancient churches and with the cries [of the muezzins] from its eternal mosques; today, it has practically been transformed into a ruined and lifeless city… Only silent walls are left, and [the Jews], seeking proof for their temporary presence [in Jerusalem], are searching under them [i.e. the Old City walls] for corroboration for their legends and idle beliefs. The flight of Christians from this country is distressing as well as ominous for both the Palestinians and Palestine… [Equally distressing is the fact] that [Christians] have almost vanished from Bethlehem, Ramallah, Nazareth, and the Galilee. It is especially worrying that this mass emigration, whose rate has grown rapidly in the past three decades, is being openly facilitated by American churches, as well as by organizations and bodies that are clearly connected with Zionist lobbies.

Sir Winston Churchill in an address to the American people in 1939 spoke with brilliant satire about Dr. Goebbels and his Propaganda Machine who had their own version of what happened during the first World War. “There they were, these peaceful Prussians, gathering in their harvests, when this wicked Belgium – set on by England and the Jews – fell upon them; and would no doubt have taken Berlin, if Corporal Adolph Hitler had not come to the rescue and turned the tables… Such is history as it is taught in topsy-turveydom.”

Excerpts of the English translation of Salah Al-Qallab’s article can be read at www.memri.org